Technical Punto heater

[Emmett]

Hi,

The interior heater has stopped working - no hot air or cold air. Other than that the car seems to be working OK but then it only does a few very short journeys a week (5-10 minutes) so any major problems may not have had time to show themselves. What I am concerned about is that the failure may indicate something more serious so I don't want to drive it until the problem has been resolved.

Can anybody advise me what the most likely problem is, what else I should be looking for and what simplish diagnostics tests I can try? I am not a mechanic but I am more than happy to give any suggestions a go.

One further piece of information. A while ago the bay that holds the wiper motor flooded because leaves had blocked the holes that let the water out. I only discovered the flooding when some water came into the footwell and the wiper stopped working. I changed the wiper motor and that now works fine but it is possible that some water got into the electrics beneath that bay where, I guess, the heater system sits. Also the driver side electric window doesn't work.

Thanks

Emmett

 

[Emmett]

Hi,

I just wanted to give a bit more information on this problem. This morning I idled the engine with a few gentle revs to see if I could get any more traction on the problem. I kept the fan heater switched on.

After about 10 minutes the passenger compartment began to fill with smoke. It seemed to be coming from the middle of the car at about foot level. The smoke had an acrid rubbery smell. The was no obvious smoke in the engine bay.

By the way I forgot to mention that the car is a P reg Punto MK1.

Obviously I can't have the wife drive the car until the problem is sorted out so I'd really appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks

Emmett

 

[teulk]

Could be the heater fan which is kind of under the glove compartment

 

[The Sultan]

well if water has entered the car through the heater it's likely it has caused an electrical fault in the heater unit and the smoke you got may have been some wires melting

so it looks like toast for your electrics without actually looking at the car myself it would be hard to identify what needs replacing and what's good

 

[Emmett]

Thanks for the feedback.

Emmett